The Irish standard., 1887-09-24
''coD iIhd f!RE PEOPLE. >
The Open Confession Of MIR. 7.
". Russell, M. p, a Reformed
Liberal Unionist.

". Russell, M. p, Reformed
Liberal Unionist.
HIS SlNGLE-HANDED FIGHT
He Daspaired Of Longer Influencing tn
Earty, and He Does Not Want 10
share Its Responsibility.
The London Times publishes the fol
lowing letter from L. W, Russell
M. p:
S1n:-- Since you referred to The
grounds on which [ have thought it right
to formally sever lny connecticut witt
the Liberal Tnionist organization, pey
haps YOU will allow me to state my own
case. believe, and have always be
lieved. the land question to be the rea
problem in Ireland Very shortly after
INV entry in Parliament Mr.. PaInell in
troauced his Tenants Relief Bill.
Although representing a purely agrl'
cultural alconstitnency, l spoke and voted
against that bill. did so largely oD
the ground that the Government had
issued Royal Commission 10 Inquire
into The veEY facts upon which we
were called upon to- legjs)ate. When
the report CT the Ccwper Commission
was issued, and after ] had carefully
studied the evidence, I made up my
mind that the judicial rents Of lSSl-2-3-
A. and 5 were ROW impossible reiita ants
would have to be revised. made no
secret of the conclusion at which I had
arrived. To MI l,oschen and Nj. Cham
berlain / at least spoke openly and
frankly. OF the Government iJanc Bill
as introduced into the House Of Lords
I say nothing But the moment it
reached the Commons L asked Mr..
Craig >Sellar to give me the opportunity
of consulting with the Liberal Union'st
party Oh the subject. The meeting at
Levonshire House o1f the Sth inst. was
tl,f, result. AZ that meeting | stated
ttat there We're many grounds On which
7 should have 10 take course OF nsy
own; but ON three pl opositicns begged
that the party should stand by me.
These weIe--ti tisst, removal Of all cestriC-
tio1ls from the leaselolders second,
the temporary abatement, pending q
purchase scheme. ct the judicial rents,
and closing of what was called the
Nback door, | further urged all ex~
tension Of the equitable Jurisdiction of
the county court Judge and the dropping
Of the bankruptcy clauses
What took place Immediately after
that meeting is matter Of history. The
Government practically conceded the
the three points urged, and you will
please mark that the question Of town-
parks was not even raised. But what
has happened? After fully one-half
the party has left town the Government
to large extent take back what they
gave. They removed most Of the re-
strictions in the leaseholders' clause; but
on Saturday fortnight, before the ma
iority of the members had reached the
house, they supported an amendment
moved by Sergeant Madden, the,full ef-
feet of which will only be realized i'll
the land courts, bur which, in my opin-
ion, says to every leaseholder outside Of
Ulster that he must surrender every
fartbing of his improvements before he
can get his rent revised. And, in face
of a fact like this, there are people who
talk of transferring the property OF the
landlord to the tenant! In the second
rlace, the Government introduced
clause enabling the Land Commission
to revise certain judicial rents. l
thought the clause Objectionable, and,
along with others, tried to amend it.
But what it did was this-it allowed
The Land Commission, having regard 10
the fall in prico, to fix an equitable
rent. In other words, it conferred
upon the Land Commission equitable
jurisdiction Of a more OF less restricted
character. The clause was the clause of
the Government. Nobody was allowed
to touch it; and as such 1t went to the
Lords. 1t came back shocn OF it's eQuit-
able powers, and the Land Commission
will now be compelled to fix the rents
without regard to equity at all. And
with what result? Everybody who
knows the facts must be aware of how
things stand in Ireland. I tremble
wheiii I think Of what the winter is to
be. Flax is hardly worth pulling, oats
are valuable mainly because Of the
the straw, potatoes are dead failure. an
insect is ravaging the turnip fields, and
the Weld of butter is diminishing to an
alarming extent OF course prices
"a % up, and, tied down by the Lords
amen Gments, the Commission must
vary the rents on the basis Of the 1887
prices, although help the peoplel.
there will be little or nothing to sell.
$Ldon't know. what is to happen. The
.dtainants may think thenselY es we'll off if